Hugo awoke to a dull ache coming from his head and pain in his arm. He opened his eyes, lifted his wounded left arm to his head and tried to sit up, wincing, surprised that whatever he was lying on was so soft. A hand went to his chest and gently but firmly pushed him back down.

"Rest," he murmured. "That was a nasty hit to the head."

Hugo groaned. "It's my arm I'm worried about." He looked around him and realized why the ground was so soft; it was a couch, old and dirty, but still better than the floor. "Where am I?"

The stranger shrugged slightly. "An abandoned house not far from where you were hurt. It was the best I could do." He placed a small icepack to Hugo's head, another on his arm. Hugo relaxed a little more. "Better?"

"As well as I can be," he said. "I'm just thankful I'm not getting serial killer vibes from you. Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter," he shook his head. "Let me help you so that we can leave. What do you remember?"

Hugo lay back properly and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember. "I was walking home and -" he jumped up. "Shit! My parents are going to kill me!"

"Not important," he stressed, pushing Hugo back down to the couch.

"They're my parents!" Hugo tried to protest.

"Deal with them later. What do you remember?"

Hugo glared at the stranger, hating that he thought he could control him, hating even more that he seemed to be listening. "I saw something, but it was so quick I didn't see. I called out; next thing I know I'm being pushed against a wall and my arm is covered in blood. The last thing I remember is the thing being pulled away and I heard something snap."

"Thing?" he asked. "You said thing not man, why?"

Hugo looked at him weirdly. "Probably because it wasn't a man. It looked like some kind of weird dog." He chuckled a little. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a -"

Hugo stopped suddenly, his eyes wide. It couldn't be... They wouldn't risk coming into the city. Would they?

"Was a what?"

"Werewolf," he whispered. He threw the icepack from his arm and sat up properly, swinging his legs to the floor, and this time, the stranger didn't stop him. He pulled the piece of cloth wrapped around his arm off and inspected the shape of the wound on his arm. "It's a bite mark. I was bit."

He nodded again. "You too, then." The stranger didn't say anything in return. "They didn't want me going out last night, there have been sightings. They must be so worried. What am I going to tell them?"

He shrugged again, moving to lean against the wall on the end of the couch across from him, and Hugo was tempted to throw the icepack at him. "You should have listened to your parents."

"And what was I meant to tell my friends?" Hugo asked. "Sorry I can't come out, there are werewolves on the streets. They're Muggles!"

"You could have told them you were grounded."

This time Hugo did pick up the icepack. He raised an eye-brow and Hugo dropped it, raising his arm instead. "Are you seriously blaming me for this?"

He shook his head once and stared him in the eye. "No, I blame your parents. They knew werewolves were out; they should have made you stay inside or at least picked you up from your friend's house. That would have been safer." He smirked as Hugo narrowed his eyes. "You know I'm right."

"This isn't their fault."

"Do you want me to blame you?"

"I don't even know who you are!" Hugo yelled, then sighed, as if defeated. "What am I going to tell them? What will they say? I'll go to Uncle Harry; he might be able to help -"

"Uncle Harry?" he asked, interrupting Hugo's monologue. He moved to kneel in front of Hugo faster than the boy could blink and grabbed his shoulders. "Who are you?"

He let go and paced the room. "Shit." He pointed to him. "I didn't recognize you!" He sounded hysterical and Hugo became more and more confused. "Do you know what this means?" Hugo shook his head slowly. "It's starting. They're after one more. I wouldn't be surprised if they've already got to him."

"What are you talking about?"

He opened his mouth, as though he was ready to tell him everything, then he closed it again. "No. This has nothing to do with me. Good bye, Hugo."

"No!" Hugo ran to the door and pushed his way in front of him. "Tell me what's going on."

"I'm not a part of this and you can't make me."

He pushed Hugo out of the way and walked out into the street. Hugo followed after him. "Tell me or I'll go to Harry!" he yelled.

He ran back and grabbed Hugo by the coller. "You never saw me. We don't know each other."

"You want me to shut up? Tell me what's going on."

Hugo swallowed his fear and stared him down until he sighed and let go. "I honestly don't know," he muttered. "All I heard was that the werewolves were planning something and your name was thrown in there. You and some other guy, I don't know his name. It began with an L; Lupo?"

"Lupin," Hugo corrected. "Teddy Lupin."

"Yes," he said, remembering. "That's all I know. What else do I have to do to make sure I'm not mentioned when you tell your family you were bitten by a werewolf?"

Hugo winced, forgetting he had to do that. "I want your name."

He scoffed. "That is exactly the kind of thing that will get me mentioned."

"I won't tell them who you are, I won't mention you at all," he promised.

He wanted to leave. He wanted to turned around and never look back. He didn't want Hugo to know. But he didn't. "Dimitri. My name is Dimitri. That's all you're getting from me. Good bye, Hugo. I hope to God I never see you again."

***

Hugo hid the bite on his arm and took a deep breath, before opening the front door. "Mum? Dad?"

No answer. He stepped into the lounge and grabbed some floo powder, knowing the only place their family would go in a time of crisis. Hugo debated whether he should go or just wait at home for them to come back, but his guilt for them worrying took hold and he knew he couldn't let them wait any longer. He stepped into the fireplace and called out, "The Burrow."

Shouting came from the living room and his mother was the first person he saw as he stepped through the fireplace. "Hugo!" She pulled him into a hug. "What happened? We were so worried!"

"You better have a bloody good explanation as to why you didn't come home," his dad said from behind Hermione. "You know what's being going on with the werewolves." Hermione seemed to hold on tighter at the mention of 'werewolves'.

Hugo gently removed himself from her grasp and opened his mouth to speak, remembering everything he had planned to say the whole way home. But, seeing his mother's face and how relieved she looked seeing that he was okay, he couldn't do it; he couldn't tell her what happened and shatter that. At least not yet. He needed time. "I'm sorry," he said instead. "It was late, so they let me stay over. I tried calling but there was no answer. I shouldn't have assumed you just went to bed. You weren't home, so I came here."

"We came here last night, when you didn't come home," Hermione explained. "We should have stayed home. I told you, Ron."

"No, you did the right thing," Hugo said quickly, thankful they couldn't see past his lie.

"At least you are alright, Hugh," Harry said, from his right..

Hugo's stomach seemed to tighten, the things Dimitri told him jumping to the front of his mind; he didn't like the way Harry stressed 'you'. "What do you mean?"

Ron placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Ted went out looking for you," he explained. "He didn't get far."

The things Dimitri had told him were suddenly screamed at him from inside his own head, and pushed past and into the living room. He found Ted sat on the couch with Victoire by his side and a bandage on his shoulder. "No," he whispered. "Were you bitten, Ted?"

Ted stood up and wrapped his arms around him. "Hey, it's not your fault, Hugo. I promise."

Hugo nodded against his chest. "I'm still sorry."

He heard Ted laugh. "I know." He sat him down on the couch and placed a hand on his arm. "We're just glad you're okay, Hugo. We were worried about you." He rubbed the young boy's arm up and down in comfort and pushed back his sleeve a little. Hugo pulled back his arm quickly and fixed his sleeve, then crossed his arms over his chest.

He smiled awkwardly at Ted's strange look. "It's a little sore because I fell on it last night, then slept on it funny," he murmured.

Ted stayed quiet for a few moments then nodded slowly. "Okay." Hugo knew he didn't believe him and had a feeling Ted knew what was wrong with his arm. "Just know you can tell me anything."